Our normal plunking group has a few sst' rods for the Columbia coupled their cold water reel. They provide the one of the best bang for buck rods and many local dealers will take care of any warranty issues without hassle ( atleast Bob's in Longview has for us) we've only experienced broken rod tips from mis handling.
Here's a good tip to get a sst on the cheap.... if your local sporting good store has one on sale which most do such as fishermans marine/bobs/sportco etc.... they often go on sale for $55-$65 and have a advertised flyer online. Take your phone to Dicks sporting goods and show them their online price and they will match it, then use their $10 off $50 purchase and you can have yourself a sst for $45 to $55!!! Do the same thing for an okuma coldwater low pro line counter and you can have one as cheap as $80 instead of the $120 most places want regularly.
I've fished many rods for the same price point and all have their ups and downs and ultimately perform very similar when in similar size and rating. I consider the following rods in about the same quality/grade/price point Lamiglas x11, Okuma SST, Berkley IM8 Air, Lamiglas Cascade Pro and Shimano Clarus. All those go on sale pretty regularly besides the clarus being the least common to go on sale. Currently I'm playing with a Shimano Scimitar in 10'6 for plunking.
